D 
The Effect of Limestone on Oats 
An Example in Wayne County, New York 
It. II. \\\ Davis of Wayne Co.. X. Y.. sends us 
the photographs for which the engravings at 
Figs. 18 and 1!) were taken. They show the resale of 
using ground limestone, and Mr. Davis gave us the 
following statement about his exj eriment: 
I lie soil in file field where the best oats grow is 
the dark loam naturally moist. When I came into 
possession of it seven years ago if was considered 
oi' little or no value, as it had not produced a fair 
crop for many years. Six years ago I set the apple 
trees seen in the picture, planting among them rasp¬ 
berries. using odd p< raids of commercial fertilizer to 
ihe acre. The raspberries were a poor crop. After 
1 leking two years I plowed them out and sowed to 
Winter wheat, using 300 pounds of fertilizer and 
seeding to hay. After taking off the second crop of 
hay. 1 planted it to fodder corn the first of July, 
and last Spring disked the ground 
and sowed the oats seen in the pic¬ 
ture; using 200 pounds of acid phos¬ 
phate and 1 Vo tons of ground lime¬ 
stone to the acre. 
"The other field has been tilled by 
me the same length of time and has 
received 4dd pounds more fertilizer 
than the field described above, and is 
supposed to l»c a stronger soil. Tt lias 
also had the wash from the peach 
orchard on the hill, seen in the* pic¬ 
ture. which has been heavily fertilized. 
Pile oats in this field were sown with 
-00 pounds uf acid phosphate to tin* 
acre and no lime." 
‘Ibe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
one-third of what team plowing would cost. But it 
is impossible to figure on any such basis and have it 
work out in general practice. Eighty-rod fields, here 
in tiie East, are exceptional. As the bouts are 
shortened the acreage is reduced, while fuel and 
labor expense continue. Furthermore, two 12-inch 
bottoms could not he pulled on all grades and in all 
soils at 2i4 miles per hour witbr the type of tractor 
now selling around $1,000. I am fairly well ac¬ 
quainted with plowing conditions in the central part. 
•-l this State, and it is my opinion that, using such 
an outfit as I have assumed that Mr. Bedford has, 
acres would he a very good average result per 
day. The prices of team hire would make it cost an 
average of $5 per acre, it would seem to me. Adding 
to the $3.14 for fuel used by the tractor the $2.10 
and the 25 cents we have $5.40 as the cost of oper¬ 
ating Mr. Bedford’s tractor for 10 hours. This is a 
low figure, for he lias left out cup grease and trans¬ 
mission oil, items which, it is my experience, amount 
What Price for Tractor 
Plowing? 
D IFF.ert/rtES OF ESTIMATE. 
—It is impossible to establish a 
fair and equitable price per acre for 
general tractor plowing. A man 
operating a tractor on a commercial 
basis can fix an acreage price so that 
on a thousand acres, on fifty farms, 
he would average a profitable sea¬ 
son’s operation. However, it could 
nut he a just and equitable arrange¬ 
ment for all parties concerned. 
SPECIFIC COSTS.—On page 1427, 
Hecemlier 28. Lawrence F. Bedford of 
Xew Jersey “woukl like to know bow 
nueh money I ought to have to plow 
per acre." lie gave facts relative 
to his tractor oittfit and. also, relating 
to the cost of team hire. IIis tractor 
consumes 18 gallons of kerosene and 
1 gallons of oil in a day—I assume 
this to he 10 hours. This costs him 
$3.14, or about 31 cents per hour. 
The cost of .Mr. Bedford’s outfit was 
$1,170. This is about the cost of the 
light- two-plow tractor outfits. llis 
operating expense is that of plowing 
in average soil, in this section, with 
two 12-inch bottoms at medium depth. 
I nder usual soli conditions it is im¬ 
practical to plow faster than 2(4 
miles per hour. Assuming that he 
drew two 12-inch plows at 2(4 miles 
on an 80-rod field, with headlands, 
five acres should lx* planted in 10 
hours. The time of a man competent 
properly to care for and operate tin 
l ' worth, at least. 50 cents per hour 
2 75 
work to plow three acres in a day. On the acre basis 
Brown must pay three times what Jones is charged. 
Hood business dictates that Brown should receive 
the advantage of well-drained, well-cultivated soil, 
and Jones should pay in proportion to the work in¬ 
volved, not the ground covered. Each should pay 
the same price for his 10 hours’ work. And even 
men the wear and tear on man and machine is 
greater on the three-acre job than on the nine. Of 
course, it is possible to go over a farm and knowing 
the grades, the size of the fields, the kind and con¬ 
dition of the soil and the depth to be plowed to fix 
a price per acre for the job. But that is a distinctly 
different proposition from fixing an acreage price 
tor general work. 
TRACTOR FARMING.—-The past season the gen¬ 
eral rate for a two-plow tractor, plowing or drag- 
g ng. was $1.50 per hour and fuel furnished by the 
farmer. This figured about $1.85. And good outfits 
m charge of competent men readily found more work 
than they could do. On one hand 
there is a tendency to underestimate 
the possibilities of tractor farming, 
\\ bile on the other hand there is an 
inclination toward excessive claims 
as to what tractors can do. Few men 
who own a tractor realize that there 
are about one hundred and forty dif¬ 
ferent tractors on the market besides 
the particular one which lie owns. 
"Whether a certain farmer can afford 
to buy a tractor or is losing money if 
he doesn't buy, wliat type to buy, 
whether he can hire one to better ad¬ 
vantage than to own, are each de¬ 
pendent on such a multiplicity of con¬ 
ditions that the broad, general state¬ 
ments which apply in the average in¬ 
stance may he entirely in error when 
applied to an individual case. 
W. l liAXKLIX MOORE. 
Tompkins Co.. X". Y. 
Oats U it It Acid Phosphate and Limestone, Fit/. IS 
Oats With At id Phosphate Bat No Limestone. Fin. 
JO 
tractor should 
Fuel cost per 
one would he (>.! cents and labor $1. totaling direct 
expense at $1.(13. 
RFl’A IU .VXD I >E I ’ R EC IA TT OX. The yearly iu- 
('•: - est on Mr. Bedford's investment is $70.20 and the 
ine insurance is probably $11.70. Commercial tractor 
authorities figure, at this time, that the lift* of the 
overage tractor in the hands of the average farmer 
will he five years. This is an arbitrary conclusion: 
.i may he anyw here from two to 20 years in the case 
<‘f a certain machine in the hands of a specific indi¬ 
vidual. I>ut using this as a basis, we get a repair 
■ :ad depreciation item of $’234. Assuming that lu* 
"peiates this outfit loO days or 1.500 hours in the 
venr. he divides this cost to $2.10 per working day. 
Based on five acres this would he 42 cents per acre, 
which added to the $1.03 gives $2.05. It sometimes 
1: ippens. in rough, stony soils, that plowshares l>e- 
c •me a considerable item; five cents more, bringing 
Ihe total to $2.10. should cover this item. 
LESS THAN TEAM FLOWING.—Given the above 
conditions, you are plowing at a cost of one-half to 
in 
a season. i his might bring the videi 
to quite a sum 
total to $5.(i5. 
LABOR -VXD PROFIT.—Taking the 3C acres at 
$•» would he $17.50. and then deducting $5.05 would 
leave $11.So for labor and profit on the investment. 
It is certain that a good tractor outfit handled l»y a 
competent man who goes to work with the intention 
• ! good work will prepare a deeper, better seed l ed 
t'lau will the average team plow outfit. In leaving 
the above figures there are several things to he con¬ 
sidered. There may not he sufficient acreage in a 
given locally for 150 days’ work. Weather con¬ 
ditions may reduce the operating season to 100 or 
even <;> days. Some hills may have to be carried. 
8..me accounts may not be collectable at all. And 
t un* is always the chance of an expensive accident. 
IIXED FRIt 1'. I XFAIR.—Now, allow me to re¬ 
peat my first contention that general public tractor 
piovv iii— on fixed price per acre basis is unfair 
must be. ultimately, unsatisfactory. Brown has 
big, level, well-drained stubble field that I can plow 
at the rate of nine acres per day. while Jones has a 
rough, stony, brushy old pasture in which it is hard 
and 
a 
Winter Work for Fruitgrowers 
A GENERA I. MISCONCEPTION.— 
Many persons who are not fruit¬ 
growers. or rather who do not grow 
fruit as a major crop, seem to have 
the idea that the production of apples 
mid pears is simply a loug period of 
rest broken by a few weeks of fever¬ 
ish activity during the Fall. This 
causes them to ask us why we do not 
i r\ to find something tt* do during the 
"oft season." Possibly they might have 
seen the light if they had lived in 
this part of the world during the past 
10 months. 
THE RUSH PERIOD.—In the 
growing of such tree fruits as apples, 
peaches, pears and cherries there are 
two periods when nothing may he 
allowed to interfere with the orchard 
work if there is to be success. Through 
April. May and June the various 
operations of plowing, spraying and 
cultivating must he done at the proper 
rimes. Other work may he run in 
between, hut these have the first call. 
In July the cherries must be picked. 
Apple thinning should he done in July 
to he of great value, although it will 
have some effect if done later, pro- 
weather conditions are right. About the first 
. f September Bartlett pears must be picked. From 
me middle of September uutil late in October peaches 
n ust be handled as they ripen. Kieffer pears must 
he picked just when Baldwin apples are in best eon- 
d.tion to handle. From the middle of September 
until about the middle of November the apple crop 
nnisf he harvested, whether anything else is done or 
not. If Duchess apples are grown this period is 
about two weeks longer. It will he seen that peaches 
and Kief!er pears do not work in well with a large 
apple orchard, and in practice they prove to be a 
very great nuisance. Cherries. Bartlett pears and 
apples work together very well. Where there is a 
ns. i kef raspberries will work into this combination. 
The growing of liay. oats, wheat and corn will fill 
(lie gaps and make practically a complete hurry time 
1 "om April until Winter sets in (usually the latter 
part of December). 
LEISI RE TIME.—During January. February and 
March we have a period of comparative ease, with 
little to do except trim trees and cut firewood. To 
get over our orchards every two years we must work 
